1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a surgical slave robot.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of medicine, surgery refers to a procedure in which a medical device is used to make a cut or an incision in or otherwise manipulate a patient's skin, mucosa, or other tissue, to treat a pathological condition. A surgical procedure such as a laparotomy, etc., in which the skin is cut open and an internal organ, etc., is treated, reconstructed, or excised, may entail problems of blood loss, side effects, pain, and scars, and as such, the use of robots is currently regarded as a popular alternative.
A conventional set of surgical robots may include a master robot, which is manipulated by the doctor to generate and transmit the necessary signals, and a slave robot, which receives the signals from the master robot to actually apply the manipulation to the patient. Typically, the slave robot may be mounted in the operating room, and the master robot may be mounted in a manipulation room, with the master robot and slave robot connected by a wired and/or wireless system to allow remote operation of a surgical procedure.
Here, the slave robot may be faced with the conflicting requirements of having to be positioned close to the patient undergoing surgery, while not occupying an excessive amount of space so that anesthetists, clinical staff, and nurses may approach the patient.
To satisfy these requirements, conventional slave robots have been mounted in a variety of ways, such as by positioning the slave robot near the patient, attaching the slave robot to the surgical bed, and installing the slave robot on the ceiling of the operating room and lowering the slave robot to the position of the patient as necessary. Each of these approaches has its advantages and disadvantages, and it is difficult to say which one approach is superior.
The information in the background art described above was obtained by the inventors for the purpose of developing the present invention or was obtained during the process of developing the present invention. As such, it is to be appreciated that this information did not necessarily belong to the public domain before the patent filing date of the present invention.